WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Chapter #133 of Attack on Titan, "Sinners," by Hajime Isayama, Dezi Sienty and Alex Ko Ransom, now available in English from Kodansha.
Still reeling from the heartwrenching sacrifice of their previous Commander, Attack on Titan's remaining Scouts continue their perilous journey into the jaws of danger in Chapter #133. Eren's ginormous Founding Titan form and his army of Wall Titans have already ravaged Liberio and their onslaught has yet to be slowed down. Though the continent is starting to fight back -- releasing an airship platoon equipped with bombs -- Eren's friends are convinced that they're the only ones capable of truly halting his genocide.
Unfortunately, this newest chapter indicates that, in order to do that, they may have to fall back on their last resort, i.e. killing Eren, as the negotiations for his surrender reach a dead end. Instead of heeding his comrades' advice, Attack on Titan's former hero issues them with a blunt ultimatum.
These negotiations happen very suddenly for Mikasa, Armin, Levi and the rest of the Paradisian members of the group. Through Eren's connection to Ymir, the first Titan, and the spiritual Coordinate point that her soul is tethered to, Eren has a mystical connection to his brethren that he has a varying degree of control over. Previously, Armin entered the realm on his own and spied on the young, wistful version of Eren he grew up with. This time, Eren is more responsive to Armin and the others' presence. Much of what we know of Eren's present state of mind is up in the air (quite literally). When he tells his compatriates that he must keep moving forward, there's a hint that the Attack Titan's genetic directive might be oversaturating his brain. And when Ymir's child form appears alongside Eren's -- both with blank expressions -- the theory that her own grudge with the world that so cruelly punished her is mingling with and overpowering Eren's is also given further weight.
Despite this, Armin, Mikasa, Jean -- and even Levi -- try to reason with him. While Levi's approach is blunt and gruff, Mikasa goes for the emotional jugular. Armin, meanwhile, tries to appeal to whatever rational side Eren might have left -- insisting that he's already achieved what he set out to do and that Paradis Island will definitely be safe now, and forever. He offers Eren the chance to stop and make a pact for peace with them. Sadly, Eren isn't interested in what they have to say. While he guarantees their freedom as his "chosen" survivors, he can't let the rest of the world off easily. Instead, he opts to continue down the path of war: "You have to have the freedom to defend the world's freedom. And I have the freedom to keep moving forward. So long as we both have our unbreakable conviction, we will collide. There's only one thing for us to do. Fight."
With that, Eren has made his wishes inescapably clear. The only way he'll stop is when he draws his last breath. It's a horribly uncomfortable truth for Mikasa and Armin, the childhood friends who believed in his dream of achieving freedom, and have now lived long enough to see Eren Jaeger become a villain -- and their shared dream corrupted with him.
